For the attainment of the maximum possible available space in small passenger motor vehicles, the drive motors are arrayed transversely to the direction of motion, and provided in connection with a front wheel drive. This configuration just barely manages to accommodate the drive motor and a multi-speed automatic transmission flanged thereonto, with three or at most four speeds, depending on the torque to be transmitted. Unfortunately, the space transverse to the direction of motion under this configuration is taken up to such an extent that at full steering excursion, and with snow chains installed, the chains already impinge on the transmission so that a further increase of the number of speeds does not appear to be possible.
Such transmission is known from company publication F1/36 WH 816009 (page 3) and also as represented in bulletin sheets F43/301/RT 3356-683 and F 43/437 RT 3397-683. A similar disclosure is found in DE-OS No. 29 19 167 and DE-OS No. 29 19 405.
For small passenger motor vehicles it is highly important to lower the fuel consumption by better adaptation of the drive train to the more fuel efficient portion of the drive motor performance curve.
It is therefore an objective of the invention to further develop a transmission for a motor vehicle by increasing the number of speeds with the goal of adapting the drive train better to the drive motor, without having to enlarge the available installation space. Achievement of this objective will mean cost savings in development and manufacture.